gEDA-user: info on pcbinternational chinese boards

[yamazakir2 <yamazakir2@xxxxxxxxx>]

I forgot who it was but someone asked me on the quality of these
boards, so here it goes

I ordered 50 qty, $4.95 each, and the basic summary is, with
everything in life, "you get what you pay for"

Now, with that said, electrically, I couldn't find anything wrong with
these boards, but I have only assembled a few so far. The hole
size/placement however, is a little suspect. I have some throughhole
parts that are a "snug" fit, but with 4pcb boards, they are just that,
"snug". The boards that were delivered by pcbinternational I think got
some of the hole sizes just slightly off where I had to kind of press
fit some parts. Yes I got them in, but they were a little past "snug".

Another area they went cheap on is the soldermask, this probably
bothers me more than the hole size issues. The soldermask is very
noticeably thin compared to 4pcb boards. It just looks kinda "cheap"
for lack of a better term. After reflowing some SMDs, apply flux
remover, and brushing, some of the soldermask came off the routings. I
was brushing hard, but I can brush hard on 4pcb boards and the
soldermask will never come off now matter what because it's so thick.
I just have to be more careful with these chinese boards.

All and all, these board are "okay" for a production run, but you can
definitely tell where they are skimping on the cost.


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